In Chongqing, a storm of words is sweeping through the city, triggered by Feng Jin, a player for Two Rivers Athletic. He publicly published a letter from all the staff of Chongqing Two Rivers Athletic Football Salon to the community.
In the letter, he wrote:
Honorable leaders, dear friends from all walks of life:
Thank you for taking the time to read our heartfelt message during this busy time. I'm sure you've heard about the issue of unpaid wages at Salon. Since three years ago, we have been mired in the quagmire of wage arrears, and today, the most outstanding wages have been owed for 16 months. Faced with this long period of unpaid wages, many colleagues find it difficult to make ends meet and have to go out after work to deliver takeaways, run dropshipping, or even swipe credit cards or borrow money to make ends meet.
Away from the pitch, we are but members of society, both children and parents. As pillars of our families and as ordinary wage earners, we also need to live.
This is our eighth consecutive season in the Super League since our success in 2014. Despite suffering from wage arrears since 2019, we never gave up our hope for life and the pursuit of better results. 2020 season, we recorded our best ever record and ranked sixth in the league, but that didn't bring any changes. 2021 season, we fell into the relegation zone for a while in the midst of wage arrears for the whole year, but we finally achieved relegation. At that moment, we were in tears not only because of our relegation success, but also because in the midst of difficulties and doubts, we honored our promise to everyone and kept Chongqing soccer in the Chinese Super League. Resilient and never giving up, we are fighting with the Chongqing spirit!
From 2019 until today, we have been struggling with this plight of unpaid wages. We have been silent and given our best, only to be rewarded with empty promises over and over again. In order to ensure that the team enters the division on time and accomplishes the league goals, we are always called to meetings at critical points in the league and get verbal promises. We harbor a deep love for Chongqing and this team, hoping that Salon will get better and better, and we will tide over the difficulties together with Salon. As a result, we entered the tournament on time at every league opening and successfully completed our league duties. This is both a respect for the rules of the Chinese Super League and a responsibility to Chongqing soccer and this city. However, in the end, what we got was persistent unpaid wages and no one asking for help.
We are worthy of the city of Chongqing! We are also worthy of the majority of fans in Chongqing!
As the 2022 season approaches, we and Chongqing soccer are once again standing at a life and death situation. We do not want to disappoint the people of Chongqing, and we do not want to let the flame of Chongqing soccer go out in our hands. Therefore, we implore the Chongqing community to give us their support, we truly love this team!
Recently, the players of Chongqing Two Rivers Athletic Salon chose to go on strike due to the issue of unpaid wages, and the team may not be able to enter the tournament before the start of the season if the issue of unpaid wages is not resolved.
